Chapter 315: Standing Firm in the Face of Privilege

“My husband comes by your hospital for inspections all the time!” The woman, noticing Zhou Can’s lack of response, suddenly interjected from the side.

People with a bit of power always seem to act this way.

Maybe they keep it in check themselves, but you can’t always say the same for their families or employees.

There were lines of patients and their families, so many eyes watching.

Since Zhou Can started at this clinic, this was the first non-medical dilemma he’d faced. If he refused, he’d almost certainly offend them.

Many mentors had warned him—no matter how skilled a doctor is, always remember you’re just a regular physician. It’s crucial not to offend people you can’t afford to offend.

Plenty of talented medical students have tripped up, offending higher-ups because they don’t handle people well, and end up stuck in mediocrity their whole lives.

Even his parents taught him: it’s good to be upright and just, but don’t get too stubborn about it.

If Zhou Can let this Director Yang’s family cut the line, it would ruin the rules. With everyone watching, the order of the queue would fall apart.

True big shots usually care a lot about their image.

Boldly cutting in line like this wasn’t something you saw every day.

With the way social media works now, all it takes is one video and things spread like wildfire. A small issue can quickly snowball into a public outrage.

At best, you’ll get a slap on the wrist.

At worst, you’re suspended and under investigation.

“May I ask your relation to the child?”

Zhou Can looked toward the overbearing middle-aged man. From the way he spoke, Zhou Can could tell he wasn’t the child’s father or husband to the woman.

Yet, here he was, carrying the child in for treatment, acting even more involved than the real father would be.

“I’m Director Yang’s driver!”

The man announced this with an arrogant flourish.

Now that was the perfect example of someone acting tough on borrowed authority. Even a janitor at a good institution talks loud and cocky, always looking down on others.

After all that fuss, he turned out to be just a driver. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he was Director Yang’s right-hand man.

At least a secretary, maybe.

Zhou Can quickly did the math—if Director Yang had a driver, his status had to be pretty high.

And judging by what the woman said earlier, her husband often came here for inspections.

Hospitals aren’t at the top of the food chain; basically, any related institution can come by for inspections.

The Health Bureau, Insurance Bureau, Disease Control Center, Drug Administration, even the fire and environmental departments can all come by to check up.

“First, let me make this clear—cutting in line is wrong. It sets a bad example for the child. If you’re in a hurry, you can always register with orthopedics. If you’re here because you trust me, then I’m afraid you’ll have to join the queue at the back.”

Zhou Can spoke gently, doing his best to persuade them without confrontation.

If he could guide them away peacefully, that would be the best outcome.

“Don’t waste time with these lectures. Can’t you see how much pain the child’s in? Shouldn’t patients in urgent need get priority? I saw you reattach a kid’s broken arm in less than a minute on TV! You’ve spent more time talking than it’d take to treat us. Get on with it, or you’re wasting even more time!”

The driver really leaned into his role, acting like a fierce watchdog.

His tone grew even harsher than before.

There was a definite vibe of scolding an underling.

Zhou Can’s temper flared. Just a mere driver, waving his authority around like some big shot—how dare he?

With Zhou Can’s skills, forget the driver—even that so-called director wouldn’t intimidate him.

“I’m very sorry, but while there are many things I can be flexible about, I can’t compromise on principle. It wouldn’t be fair to all those patients who’ve waited so long if I let you cut the line. Your child is in pain, but isn’t every person here in discomfort as well?”

He’d barely finished when a ripple of approval went through the waiting patients—his words hit home.

Zhou Can stood his ground, speaking up for the vulnerable, and that earned him both respect and gratitude from the crowd.

No one knew who started it, but soon enthusiastic applause broke out.

“Don’t you know what’s good for you?” The driver, face flushed with anger, jabbed a finger at Zhou Can.

“Xiao Xu, let’s go! We’ll find another doctor for our child. That Dr. Zhou is arrogant and insufferable—he’ll get what’s coming to him.” The woman tugged at the driver, covering her face as she slipped away, trying not to be noticed.

She was probably worried about so many witnesses and the trouble it could bring.

Zhou Can didn’t let this little scene get to him.

He moved right on to see the next patient.

“Dr. Zhou, my daughter hurt her back—could you take a look?”

At her side, a man with graying temples looked at his daughter with concern.

The girl looked about twelve or thirteen, her body just starting to grow, like a flower bud just about to bloom.

She sat there, her face contorted with pain.

Her upper body was slanted at a strange angle.

“Which side hurts?”

“Um…”

The little girl pointed at her right lower back, clearly in pain.

Zhou Can gently pressed on her waist, performing an initial physical exam.

“Ouch… it hurts! It really hurts…”

She cried out right away.

Plus, having a stranger press on her waist made her itchy and uncomfortable, so she instinctively shied away—causing even more pain.

“Let’s get an X-ray first. In my experience, as long as there’s no fracture, I can try a manual reduction.”

He ordered the exam, and the girl’s father took her off to get checked.

About an hour later, the girl returned with the results.

Zhou Can reviewed the film—it turned out her injury was just a minor dislocation in her lumbar vertebrae, with a spinous process slightly off-center. That was why it hurt so much.

The lumbar spine is made up of stacked discs between the vertebrae.

It’s built to move to a certain degree.

You can bend and twist it, but if you go too hard or get older, it’s easy to throw it out of alignment.

Usually it’s best to treat this conservatively with rest in bed.

If you find a skilled orthopedic doctor and conditions allow, a manual reduction can sometimes help.

After studying her case, Zhou Can was confident about what to do.

“Ji You, bring over a flat stretcher—the sturdier the better.”

It didn’t take long for a stretcher to arrive.

Zhou Can locked the wheels and turned to the girl. “Come on, lie down here.”

With help from Ji You and Zhou Can, the girl lowered herself onto the stretcher, still tilted at an odd angle.

“I’ll be honest—her misalignment is pretty severe. I can’t promise the manual reduction will work, but I’ll do my absolute best. She’s so young, and surgery carries lots of risks on top of being expensive.”

It was clear Zhou Can really had the patient’s best interests at heart.

“Dr. Zhou, we trust your expertise and judgment—we’re here because we believe in you. Please, do whatever you think is best.” The girl’s father put his full confidence in him, which made Zhou Can even more determined.

Doing the reduction in front of everyone was partly for transparency, but also because the space here made it easier for the procedure.

All around, families, patients, and even some medical staff crowded around to witness this unusual treatment.

Zhou Can had the girl settle in, then placed one hand on her hip and the other on her waist—carefully locating the vertebra that needed fixing.

“Relax. Just relax!”

When she finally loosened up, he suddenly pressed down with force.

“Click!”

A deep, muffled pop rang out, and the girl let out a scream—everyone watching tensed up instantly.

But Zhou Can was all smiles, looking totally relaxed and satisfied.

[Bone Setting technique experience +1. First time performing a high-difficulty lumbar reduction—bonus: Bone Setting experience +100.]

[Congratulations, your Bone Setting technique has reached level four: experience 1 / Attending Physician (junior) level.]

A double blessing—he hadn’t just earned a big chunk of experience, but elevated his skills to a whole new tier.

Reaching level four with bone setting was a huge deal—solidly at the level of an Attending Physician.

Climbing to level four in this skill was anything but easy; lots of orthopedic doctors would be lucky to reach Resident level their entire careers.

No exaggeration—it really was that tough.

Bone setting patients are rare to begin with. Most are for joint dislocations or misalignments. If a regular doctor manages twenty reductions in a year, that’s impressive.

To hit level four, you’d need experience with over eleven hundred patients.

Which, as you can imagine, is a staggering challenge.

Zhou Can was an exception. Besides the experience system’s boosts and rewards, his unique position let him treat patients on his own. News coverage and the trust it brought meant even more cases for him to hone his craft.

Back when he was a resident in orthopedics, he’d impressed his seniors enough to earn their mentorship. Dr. Fu Zhian had taught him step by step, sparing no effort. Add in Zhou Can’s talent for learning, and he’d mastered the bone setting technique fast.

But Zhou Can’s story couldn’t be copied—swap in any other doctor and there was no way to reach level four so quickly.

With every advancement, Zhou Can felt a deeper understanding of bones and joints especially how the lumbar spine’s facets, lamina, spinous process, pedicle, body, and discs all fit and coordinate. Their movements, so vivid in his mind.

This would make future diagnoses faster and more precise.

And his manual reduction skills? Now those were on another level.

Even the toughest joint reductions, he was ready for the challenge.

Take the wrist and ankle joints—both famously complex. When they dislocate, most doctors can only recommend surgery since manual reduction is out of reach.

But at level four, Zhou Can was confident he could handle these complex resets.

“Alright, young lady, let’s have you stand up and try it out!”

He smiled encouragingly at the girl, who was still nervous on the stretcher.

Her father watched anxiously by her side.

To be honest, watching Zhou Can suddenly put his entire weight into her back had nearly scared the man out of his wits.

It’s the spine, after all! If anything had gone wrong—the consequences were unthinkable.

Especially after that heavy pop; it sounded exactly like a bone snapping.

“I… can I really sit up?” The girl, still shaken, was barely twelve. She desperately wanted her father or Zhou Can to help her sit.

But Zhou Can gave her an encouraging look. “You can do it—be brave!”

Their belief bolstered her courage. Gritting her teeth, she tried to sit up on her own.

With everyone watching, to their amazement, she managed to sit up by herself.

She even got off the bed and tried walking on her own.

“It’s better—really better! My upper body isn’t leaning anymore, and I don’t need help to walk!”

Her father shouted with joy, tears glistening in his eyes.

For any dad, seeing his daughter’s spinal injury was agony—no one was more anxious than him.

Now, watching Zhou Can work miracles even greater than what he’d seen on the news, he was so moved his hands were trembling.

“A miracle! Truly a miracle—this doctor is incredible! I’m so glad we came!”

The father’s voice was thick with emotion, his face flushed with happiness.

“I’ll prescribe two boxes of calcium tablets to help her bones get stronger.” Zhou Can turned to the girl’s father. “This is a key time for her growth, so make sure she eats a balanced diet. Plenty of foods that help with calcium—like bone broth, milk, goat’s milk, beans, fish, shrimp—all excellent choices.”

He always believed food and exercise should come first when supplementing calcium; tablets were just for special cases.

Relying only on calcium tablets long term isn’t the way to go.

All around, people looked at Zhou Can with genuine admiration. They’d seen his skills firsthand.

Some filmed the process on their phones—no doubt planning to upload it later.

Once it went online, Zhou Can’s reputation would spread even further.

Meanwhile, that same woman who’d tried to cut the line—the official’s wife—was now at the blood draw station with her son, just in time to see Zhou Can reset the little girl’s spine.

She couldn’t help but be even more impressed by his skills.

“No wonder he’s been on TV. He really is that good.”

And comparing her son’s sprained ankle—after a warm welcome from pediatrics and orthopedics, all they’d done was order a bunch of tests.

She hadn’t thought much of it before, but seeing the difference now made her realize how skilled Zhou Can was.

The girl only needed an X-ray and she was already cured and leaving. Her own son was still waiting in line for bloodwork and more tests.

“Xiao Xu, why does a simple sprain need blood tests, CT scans, X-rays—all these checks? Feels like overkill and just wastes time.”

She grumbled to her driver.

“At least the doctors treated us well. Maybe the tests are for a reason—they know we’re special cases. I could tell the doctor was very respectful of you when we checked in.”

The driver, Xiao Xu, tried to smooth things over.

Truth is, he’d watched everything Zhou Can did for that other patient too.

But after that argument, no way was he going to praise Zhou Can now.

“We came here to get our son treated, not to be fawned over. If nothing else works, maybe we should go find Dr. Zhou after all—he’s the real expert at Tuyu Hospital.”

Thinking back, the official’s wife felt a little regret at how she’d acted.

She shouldn’t have cut in line so blatantly, backing herself into a corner.

It would’ve been smarter for her to wait in line while sending Xiao Xu to ask Dr. Zhou for help—much less trouble that way.

She was so used to special treatment, rarely did anyone say no, and it quickly became a bad habit.

In everything, she expected to be first, to enjoy privileges.

That’s why, when she cut the line with such bravado, she didn’t even realize it was wrong.

Even later, when she backed down, it was only because so many people were watching, and she didn’t want to be exposed.

“Honestly, for something minor like a sprain, any doctor should be able to handle it. Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital is a top hospital anyway—no need to go back and deal with Dr. Zhou’s attitude.”

Xiao Xu had his own opinion—he would rather hold firm, pride above all.